Billfold construction permitting releasable combination therewith of a multiple pass case or the like



Nov. 28, I950 D. J. BROUGHTON' 2,531,605 BILL-FOLD CONSTRUCTION PERMITTING RELEASABLE COMBINATION THEREWITH OF A MULTIPLE PASS CASE'QR THE LIKE Filed 001;. 25, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR .JOl/GL AS IBm'uMro/v 7 ATTORNEYS 2,531,605 NG RELEASABLE COMBINATION PLE. PASS CASE OR THE LIKE Nov. 28, 1950 D. J. BROUGHTON BILLFOLD CONSTRUCTION PERMITTI THEREWITH OF A MULTI Filed Oct. 25, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Illll lllll l l INVENTOR flouaz As IBROl/Gf/TM/ Nov. 28, 1950 D. J. BROUGHTON BILL-FOLD CONSTRUCTION PERMITTING RELEASABLE COMBINATION TI'IEREWITH OF A MULTIPLE PASS CASE OR THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed oct. 25, 1947 INVENTOR Douams \IBA'M/bf/TO/V $7M ATTORNEYS NOV. 28, 1950 BROUGHTON 2,531,605

BILLFOLD CONSTRUCTION PERMITTING RELEASABLE COMBINATION THEREWITH OF A MULTIPLE PASS CASE OR THE LIKE Filed Oct. 25, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 9 7M ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 28, 1950 assists BILLFOLD CONSTRUCTION PERMITTING RELEASABLE COMBINATION THERE- WITH OF A MULTIPLE PASS CASE OR THE LIKE Douglas J. Broughton, Springfield, Mass., assignor to Buxton, Incorporated, Springfield, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 25, 1947, Serial No. 782,080

This invention relates to an improvement in combination billfolds and more particularly to an improved billfold construction permitting the releasable attachment of a pass case or similar structure to the billfold.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide a construction for the above purpose in which no stitching is necessary and one in which the elements of the billfold may operate fully and freely both when the pass case is attached and when removed.

Other and further objects residing in the details of construction will be apparent from the following specification and claims.

customarily a billfold comprises rear and front wall members connected to form an elongated bill compartment between them. The end sections of the billfold are foldable one on the other about a substantially central, transverse line of fold to close the billfold. To permit this folding to be accomplished without undesirable buckling of the front wall it is customary to construct the front wall of members permitting a relative telescoping movement of the parts.

To meet the demand for a substantial card carrying capacity numerous constructions have been proposed for releasably connecting a multiple pass case to one end section of the front billfold wall to be enclosed between the end sections when the billfold is closed. This has in most cases involved the use of stitches orthe use of connecting means which tend to impair the efficiency of the relative movement of the front wall members when the billfold is closed and also to leave a slackness of the parts or an undesirable vacant appearance when the pass case is absent. All of these objections are overcome by my present invention.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. l is a front elevational view of a billfold M and pass case combination embodying my invention, the billfold being open;

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the pass case removed;

b Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the pass case mem- Fig. 4 is a view of a flat blank from which the body of the billfold may be made;

Figs. 5 to 11 inclusive are similar fragmentary views showing successive steps in constructing the billfold; and

Fig. 12 is a sectional view substantially on line |2|2 of Fig. 2, but on an enlarged scale.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 the billfold comprises end sections generally indicated at and 2 which are foldable one on the other about a central, transverse line of fold indicated at '3.

The construction of one end section, as that designated I, and including the outer wall mem- 2 Claims. (Cl. 15038) her 4, may be of any desired or conventional form as later described. The other section 2, however, is constructed so that its outer wall member 5 forms a loop, open at its'ends as indicated at 6 and in Fig. 2.

As shown in Fig. 3, the pass case member gen erally indicated at 8, comprises a rear wall 9 and front wall members l0 and I I extending from opposite ends of wall 9. As shown, member I!) is joined to the wall 9 by a series of bellows folds I2 to which transparent pass case envelopes 13 are secured, the folds i2 forming hinges about which the envelopes may be swung. It will be understood that the envelopes ma be hinged to the cover in any suitable manner. Members H3 and H are adapted to be overlapped one on the other and releasably secured together by any suitable means such as snap fastener elements !4 and I5.

When the pass case is secured to the billfold, members H and 9 are threaded through one open end 6 or I to position wall member 9 of the pass case beneath wall member 5 of the billfold with member extending outwardly of the opposite open end of the loop, the pass case envelopes i3 lying upon wall member 5 and members H and i0 connected together by fasteners Ill-45 as in Fig. 1. As will be obvious when fastener I4--|5 is disconnected the contents of the pass case envelopes may be inspected without removal of the pass case from the billfold.

Referring to Fig. 4 the body of the billfold is formed from a single piece of leather or similar suitable material comprising a rear wall portion it from one end of which extends an end closure member ll. From the opposite end of wall l6 extends an end closure member l8. Member [3 is provided with a pair of longitudinal, spaced parallel slots I9 and a transverse slot 29.

Extending from the lower edge of the rear wall It are panel members 2| and 22, the latter being provided with an end extension 23. From the side edges of panels 2| and 22, opposite the edges which are connected to the rear wall it extend flaps 24 and 25 respectively. From the outer edge of flap 22 extends a tab 26 and from the outer edge of flap 25 extends a tongue 21. The construction of the parts 2|, 24, 26 at the left hand end of the billfold, as viewed in the drawings, is that more fully described in my copending application, Serial No. 687,758, filed August 1, i946. Tab 26 folds around the end of panel 2| and interlocks in a slot 3| in panel 2| while end closure H is interlocked in slots 32, formedin panel 2i, when the panel 2| and the parts carried thereby are folded onto the rear wall as shown in Fig. 11, all as described in said prior application.

extension 23 is provided with an end porthe apron having a tongue portion '38 which is inserted through slot 34. The portion 39 of the apron lying between slit 34 and the end of panel 22 remote from extension 23 is cemented to the panel while the upper surface of tongue 38, as viewed in Fig. 7, is cemented to the extension 23.

Panel 22 and the parts carried thereby, which together form the loop forming wall member 5, are folded into superposed relation on rear wall It, flap 25 being folded downwardly between the rear wall and the panel 22 as shown in Fig. 8. Tongue 2! is inserted through the slot of the member l8 and its tip portion 28 is inserted through the upper slot 19 as shown in Fig. 8 to interlock the tongue to the end closure member. Member I 8 and the interlocked tongue 21 may then for convenience be temporarily folded onto the body of the billfold as shown in Fig. 9. In this'position one end of a bridging member 49 is interlocked to the end closure member 18. The

bridging member 49 is provided at one end with opposed ears 4| which are inserted in the slots I 9, and with an end tongue 42 which is inserted in slot 20 all as shown in Fig. 9.

The bridging member and end closure 8 to which it is nowattached are swung back as shown in dot dash lines in Fig. 10 and the free end of the bridging member is introduced between infolded extension 23 and folded flap 25, as shown in full lines in Fig. 10, and is drawn through beneath the panel 22 acrossthe space between the panels 2| and 22 and inserted between panel 2! and flap 24 as shown in Fig. 11. The free end of member 49 is formed with a tab 43 which i inserted through a slot 39 formed in flap 24, before tab 26 is interlocked in slot 3| and end closure member I! is interlocked in slots 32 as previously mentioned, to bring the parts to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

By this construction, as will be apparent from Fig. 12, an open ended passage or loop 6'l is formed between the bridging member 40 and the wallassemblyb for the reception of the pass case. The apron member 39 performs two functions namely, it provides a smooth surface for the threading of the wall members 9 and II of the pass case through the loop, and it forms a pocket 46 between the apron and, extension 23 in addition to a pocket 44 between the extension 23 and panel 22. Preferably as shown in Fig. 2 the outer face of panel 22 is provided with tooled lines 45 to simulate the end closure I 7, thus giving a symmetrical appearance to the billfold when the pass case is removed.

What I claim is:

1. A billfold comprising a rear Wall and a front wall connected together to form a bill compartment, the front wall including spaced end sections and a bridging member closing the space between the end sections, one of said end sections including a panel member extending from the lower edge of the rear wall and folded upwardly and over the bridging member to form an open ended loop, an extension from the outer end edge of said panel member, said extension being folded inwardly over the inner face of said panel member, the latter being formed with a slit through which the free end portion of said extension projects to provide a pocket between the extension and the panel member, said extension being formed with a slit adjacent its folded connection to the end of said panel member, and an apron member having one end portion secured to the inner face of said panel member between said first mentioned slit and the end of the panel member remote from the end of the billfold, a portion of the other end of the apron member being inserted through said second slit and secured to said extension to form a pocket. between. said apron and said extension, said pockets being: accessible through said first mentioned slit forwardly and rearwardly, respectively, of the projecting portion of said extension.

2. A billfold comprising a rear wall and a front wall connected together to form a bill compartment, the front wall including spaced end sections, said end sections each comprising a panel member extending from the lower edge of the rear wall and folded upwardly on the rear wall, each panel member having a flap. extending downwardlyv from its upper edge between it and the rear wall, a bridging member having its end portions extending between the panels and the flaps carried thereby with the central portion of the bridging member bridging the gap between the panel members and providing short pockets between each panel member and the bridging .member, end closure flaps extending from the ,ends of the rear wall, one of said end closure flaps extending over the adjacent panel member and having its free end interlocked therein to close both the adjacent end of the bill compartment and the outer end of the adjacent short pocket, the other of said end closure flaps being folded inwardly between the adjacent panel and the flap extendingdownwardly from the upper edge thereof to close only the adjacent end of the bill compartment and leaving the adjacent short pocket open at both its outer and inner ends, said last named end flap being interlocked with the adjacent end of the bridging member and an extension from the outerend edge of the last mentioned panel member folded inwardly between the bridging member and the adjacent panel member, to provide an open ended loop between the extension and the bridging member and a short pocket between the extension and adjacent panel member said last mentioned pocket being closed at. its outer end and open at its inner end.

DOUGLAS J. BROUGHTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,694,186 LEnfant Dec. 4, 1928 1,939,761 Buxton Dec. 19,1933 2,350,503 Gardner June 6, 1944 2,432,553 Broughton Dec. 16, 1947 2,434,121 Pence Jan. 6, 1948 2,439,579 Renz Apr. 13, 1948 2,453,780 Broughton Nov. 16, 1948 

